The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1887-11-16
THE CROW WAR
ENDS IN H DEATH OF SWORD
BEARER, H MEDICINE MAN.
"Heap Medicine no Good.


EDITOR CHRONICLE
Affairs at the agency have been gradu.
ally coming to a head, This morning
the sun rose, spreading Respondent light
over the beautiful valley of the Little
Horn. From early morning there
seemed to be a feeling among all citi-
zens, soldiers and Indians, that the
crisis was at hand, and that the medi.
cine of Sword Bearer would be tested
before the sun set. The power of the
young Indian over his people is really
not 80 strange when it is remembered
that the Crows are very ignorant and
superstitious. The young Man-N no.
Wraps Install TIP tells his people that
during one of his visits to the noun.
tains, he saw a beautiful grove, in which
a small tree or bush was on fire. He
describes the fire as being bright and
beautiful, lighting up the grove with a
radiant and cheerful blaze, that while the
flames seemed to wrap the entire sur
face, trunk, limb and leaf. the tree was
not consumed, that he cast limbs, twigs
and stones into the fire, and they were
consumed in an instant. without leaving
any ashes or any other evidence that
the articles cast into the flames were
once solid matter, that a voice called to
him, which he recognized as the voice of
his grandfather, to have no fear to ap-
proach the burning bush, and battle his
hands and body in the flames, which he
did, and to his great delight and aston
ishment, his body was not consumed,
but surrounded with a great protecting
medicine, which would forever protect
him from the bullets and other weapons
of his enemies. He was then told to
draw forth his sword and bathe it also
in the flames. He was astonished to
find that it alone, of all material things
which he had subjected to the test of
the fire, was not consumed. The spirit
told him that in this sword henceforth
there would be great power, and that he,
while in possession of this weapon, could
be as a destroying angel to his enemies,
that the sword would be endowed with
a mighty medicine, with it he could
destroy all material things, mighty
stones would dissolve into fragments by
the slightest touch of the sword, gigan-
tic forest trees he could sever in twain
by the smallest stroke, with the simple
wave of this redoubta bic weapon, the
grassy plains would instantly become a
parched desert, the streams would cease
to flow and the valleys made inl,abitable.
He could blight the sun from the firma-
ment, destroy the moon and cause the
stars to fall in showers. He could
ascend to the skies, walk through the
camp of the soldiers unseen, and lastly,
by simply waving this weapon in the
direction of the soldiers camp, the little
army of Gen. Ruger would be instantly
smitten with death. Several old men
testify that they witnessed miracles,
such as crushing a mighty stone with
n blow of the sword, a tree OF large
size cleft in twain with a single stroke,
ETC., etc. One day. while the sky was
clear and everything serene, he predicted
a storm, which came about as follows:
In conversation with his young men, he
SAID: To-day l VIII make 1t rain, and
the soldiers Will go away" And sure
enough, during the afternoon a heavy
rain set in, and some Of the soldiers.
not being provided with suitable protec.
ton, returned to TT. custer.
There is no doubt but the
great majority Of The Crow tribe
firmly believed that Sword Bearer
really possessed great supernatural
power. The leading men feared him.
while their better Judgment told them
that his teachings were false, and ii fol-
lowed, me, whole tribe would surely
come to grief, (unless, OF course, he could
destroy all the whites as he professed.)
In obedience to an order issued some
days ago, the Indians have beer coming
into the agency, and this morning it was
understood that all his Indians had
arrived. except P~lentycues' baad, who
live on Pryor creek and Clark's Fork.
They were expected to arrive to morrow.
a councii WAS heiu III Crazy Eieaus